For discussion FCR(95-96)117
on 2 February 1996

ITEM FOR FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 43 - CIVIL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Subhead 700 General other non-recurrent

Members are invited to approve a commitment of $41.7 million for engaging consultants to help to develop measures in enhancing statutory control of the geotechnical aspects of private slopes and developments.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Estimated cost of engaging consultants for ways to enhance statutory geotechnical control of private slopes and developments

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PROBLEM

The geotechnical aspects of private slopes and developments, if not properly controlled and maintained, would endanger the safety of slopes and buildings.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Civil Engineering (DCE) proposes to engage consultants to work in his Geotechnical Engineering Office (GEO) for a period of four years to study areas where statutory controls need to be strengthened and to prepare the necessary groundwork for legislative amendments.

JUSTIFICATION

3. The statutory basis for controlling the safety standards of geotechnical features in private slopes and developments is the Buildings Ordinance (Cap. 123). The last amendment of the Ordinance for enhancing geotechnical control was in 1990.

4. In December 1994, as part of the Slope Safety Review, the Works Branch reviewed the effectiveness of the current legislation in controlling the safety standards of existing slopes and new slopes formed in private developments. We have identified the following inadequacies in the current legislation -

1. persons who are not qualified geotechnical specialists are allowed to design and oversee construction of slopes in private developments;
2. private owners are reluctant to implement voluntarily safety measures for slopes for which they are responsible, e.g., slope maintenance and monitoring of permanent geotechnical installations requiring long term maintenance, such as pre-stressed ground anchors;
3. there is no direct statutory control on the quality and standard of ground investigation contractors and soil and rock laboratories providing important geotechnical data and information to designers of slopes in private developments; and
4. there is no mandatory standard of practice for installation or maintenance of water-bearing underground services which may leak and affect the stability of nearby slopes, as occurred in the Kwun Lung Lau landslide on 23 July 1994.

5. In the light of these findings, we consider that the following subject areas need to be examined in detail with a view to bringing them under statutory control -

1. registration of geotechnical engineers under the Buildings Ordinance;
2. certification for maintenance of slopes;
3. certification for maintenance of buried water-carrying services;
4. requirements for demolition of buildings supporting ground;
5. design of buildings to include ability to withstand landslip debris;
6. performance review of geotechnical construction works;
7. maintenance and monitoring of geotechnical installations requiring life-long monitoring;
8. qualification and standards for ground investigation contractors and soil and rock testing laboratories;
9. requirements for new underground drainage works affecting slopes; and
10. rectification of dangerous hillsides and dangerous geotechnical works.

6. The above work is a new commitment which demands considerable dedicated resources. Having examined the ways and means to meet this commitment, DCE concludes that it cannot be met by the redeployment of existing staff in his department as they are already fully stretched by the accelerated Landslip Preventive Measures Programme and by increased public demand on slope safety information. He proposes to engage consultants to provide the necessary manpower resources. The proposal has the following advantages -

1. the proposed legislation needs the support of the geotechnical profession, and it is therefore appropriate for experienced practitioners who are familiar with the local practice in the private sector to help to draw up the legislative proposals;
2. consultants can mobilize their resources more quickly in response to demand, whereas we cannot recruit adequately experienced in-house staff for the relatively short-term commitment within the desired timeframe; and
3. the service of the consultant staff can be terminated on satisfactory completion of the tasks.

7. The consultants will work in the GEO under the overall management and direct supervision of the Chief Geotechnical Engineer/Slope Safety. Their main tasks will be -

1. to conduct the necessary research and detailed review of the effectiveness and efficiency of the current legislation on slope safety;
2. to formulate the technical and administrative details of the proposed geotechnical control legislation for inclusion in the Bill;
3. to prepare reports and discussion papers on the proposed legislation for discussion and consultation in various forums; and
4. to liaise with the interested parties inside and outside Government on matters relating to the proposed legislation.

The newly established Standing Committee on Slope Safety, chaired by Deputy Secretary (Works Policy) of the Works Branch, will consider and endorse the legislative proposals before they are further processed.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

8. DCE estimates that the total cost of the project will be $41.7 million over a period of four years as follows -

9. The consultants will be remunerated on a time-charge basis for an estimated total of 174 man-months of professional staff, 156 man-months of technical staff and 42 man-months of clerical staff. Details of the consultant fees are at the Enclosure.

10. The project will not incur any direct recurrent expenditure. Subsequent implementation of proposed legislative measures may have additional resource implications.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

11. Following the Kwun Lung Lau landslide in July 1994, the Secretary for Works carried out a slope safety review and presented a summary of its findings to the Legislative Council Panel on Planning, Lands and Works on 20 December 1994. In February 1995, the Works Branch published the review report, which was endorsed by the Executive Council, recommending that, among other things, detailed proposals for legislative changes should be explored to improve the statutory control of geotechnical aspects of private slopes and developments.

12. The Report of the Select Committee on Kwun Lung Lau Landslip and Related Issues published by the Legislative Council in July 1995 highlighted this recommendation and recommends that an outline of the proposal should be available for consultation as soon as possible.

Works Branch
January 1996

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Enclosure to FCR(95-96)117

Estimated cost of engaging consultants for ways to enhance statutory geotechnical control of private slopes and developments

We shall remunerate the consultants on a time-charge basis according to the number of staff deployed for the task. This form of remuneration is most appropriate because the exact amount of work involved cannot be ascertained at this stage and therefore the fees in terms of lump sum cannot be realistically estimated.

2. The actual fees will be subject to competitive bidding. For the purpose of this estimate, we use the estimated staff salary based on the Master Pay Scale (MPS) for each comparable rank in the civil service, with a multiplier of 2.5 to allow for the consultants’ on-costs. The total estimated staff cost at 1995 price is thus as follows -

Note : Estimated fee = 2.5 x man-months x MPS monthly salary.

3. The consultant staff will work as a team to complete the tasks listed in paragraph 7 of the paper.

4. Having regard to the duration of requirements for consultant staff and to cater for general price increases and salary adjustments, we have included in the total commitment sought an inflation-related allowance of 10% per year, on a compound basis. Thus, the total commitment and estimated cashflow of the project is as follows -

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